The makers of Kony 2012, a staggeringly popular online video campaign about capturing Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, plan to release a new video on Monday that will respond to criticism about the film’s methods and messages.

Jason Russell’s 30-minute video, now viewed 74 million times on YouTube, highlights the atrocities perpetrated by Kony, head of the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) rebel group that once terrorized northern Uganda.

The film, funded by the San Diego-based charity Invisible Children, tells the story of a former child soldier named Jacob and then issues a call to action to viewers to help “make Joseph Kony famous.”

Although the film has raised more than $5-million and won the backing of millions of people, including celebrities like Oprah Winfrey and Rihanna, the charity behind the project has faced criticism over their message, methods and financial transparency.

“I believe that [Kony] is listening to what’s going on the world right now. I believe that he can hear our voice. I believe he needs to hear we accept his surrender.”

Ugandan officials said last Friday the campaign came too late.

“All this hoopla about Kony and his murderous activities is good in a sense that it helps inform those who didn’t know the monster that Kony is. But of course, this is too late,” Uganda’s defence ministry spokesman Felix Kulayigye told Reuters.

“It might take long but we’ll catch Kony, dead or alive. How many years did it take to end the conflict in Northern Ireland? So our hunt for Kony can take long but it will end one day,” he said.

Mr. Russell said he sees a “beautiful ending” to the manhunt that ends with Kony surrendering peacefully, boarding a helicopter and being tried in the International Criminal Court.

The LRA is notorious for violence including hacking body parts off victims and abducting young boys to fight and young girls to be used as sex slaves.

Kony and his fighters were driven out of northern Uganda in 2005 after targeting communities for nearly two decades. They moved into the neighbouring countries of Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

President Barack Obama sent 100 troops to Uganda late last year to aid Ugandan forces track down Mr. Kony, a former altar boy.

Ugandan journalist Angelo Izama said in a blog post that calling the campaign a misrepresentation “is an understatement.”

“While it draws attention to the fact that Kony, indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in 2005, is still on the loose, it’s portrayal of his alleged crimes in Northern Uganda are from a bygone era,” he said.

“At the height of the war between especially 1999 and 2004, large hordes of children took refuge on the streets of Gulu town to escape the horrors of abduction and brutal conscription to the ranks of the LRA. Today most of these children are semi-adults. Many are still on the streets unemployed. Gulu has the highest numbers of child prostitutes in Uganda. It also has one of the highest rates of HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis.”

The campaign won’t make Kony famous, Mr. Izama writes, but will make Invisible Children famous.

A Queen’s University war crimes expert has said he is puzzled by the backlash against the campaign.

“The essential information presented, particularly about the large-scale and atrocious crimes instigated by Kony, is accurate,” said Darryl Robinson, a law professor in Kingston, Ont., who once worked for a prosecutor in the Hague.

“The video and the organizers have been subjected to an array of intense criticisms. The intensity and diversity of the criticisms are puzzling.”